TY - JOUR
T1 - Influence of a 30-day slow-paced breathing intervention compared to social media use on subjective sleep quality and cardiac vagal activity
AU - Laborde, Sylvain Jean Pascal
AU - Hosang, Thomas
AU - Mosley, Emma
AU - Dosseville, Fabrice
PY - 2019/2/6
Y1 - 2019/2/6
N2 - Breathing techniques are part of traditional relaxation methods; however, their influence on psychophysiological variables related to sleep is still unclear. Consequently, the aim of this paper was to investigate the influence of a 30-day slow-paced breathing intervention compared to social media use on subjective sleep quality and cardiac vagal activity (CVA, operationalized via high-frequency heart rate variability). Healthy participants (n = 64, 33 male, 31 female, M = 22.11, SD = 3.12) were randomly allocated to an experimental or control group. In the experimental group, they had to perform slow-paced breathing for 15 min each evening across a 30-day period. This was administered through a smartphone application. The control group used social media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp) for the same duration. The night before and after the intervention, their CVA was assessed via a light portable Electrocardiogram (ECG) device, and they had to fill out the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index questionnaire. Results showed that in comparison to the use of social media, the slow-paced breathing technique improved subjective sleep quality and increased overnight CVA, while a tendency was observed for morning awakening CVA. Slow-paced breathing appears a promising cost-effective technique to improve subjective sleep quality and cardiovascular function during sleep in young healthy individuals.
AB - Breathing techniques are part of traditional relaxation methods; however, their influence on psychophysiological variables related to sleep is still unclear. Consequently, the aim of this paper was to investigate the influence of a 30-day slow-paced breathing intervention compared to social media use on subjective sleep quality and cardiac vagal activity (CVA, operationalized via high-frequency heart rate variability). Healthy participants (n = 64, 33 male, 31 female, M = 22.11, SD = 3.12) were randomly allocated to an experimental or control group. In the experimental group, they had to perform slow-paced breathing for 15 min each evening across a 30-day period. This was administered through a smartphone application. The control group used social media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp) for the same duration. The night before and after the intervention, their CVA was assessed via a light portable Electrocardiogram (ECG) device, and they had to fill out the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index questionnaire. Results showed that in comparison to the use of social media, the slow-paced breathing technique improved subjective sleep quality and increased overnight CVA, while a tendency was observed for morning awakening CVA. Slow-paced breathing appears a promising cost-effective technique to improve subjective sleep quality and cardiovascular function during sleep in young healthy individuals.
KW - cardiac coherence
KW - cardiac vagal tone
KW - deep breathing
KW - high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV)
KW - neurovisceral integration model
KW - parasympathetic nervous system
KW - respiratory sinus arrhythmia
KW - slow breathing
KW - vagal tank theory
KW - vagus nerve
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/205dc9be-20db-3774-bc5d-e2c34c5024b3/
U2 - 10.3390/jcm8020193
DO - 10.3390/jcm8020193
M3 - Journal articles
C2 - 30736268
SN - 2077-0383
VL - 8
SP - 193
JO - Journal of Clinical Medicine
JF - Journal of Clinical Medicine
IS - 2
M1 - 193
ER -